Jeffrey Theis

Ph.D., English, University of Wisconsin at Madison
M.A., English, University of Illinois at Chicago
B.A., English, Kenyon College

Teaching Focus: Shakespeare and early modern British writing, introduction to literature, first year seminar, ecotheory, honors thesis seminars.

Research Interests: ecocritical (environment-focused) analysis of early-modern English writing and culture with a focus on Shakespeare’s plays and time. Current focus is on homes and the process of dwelling in Shakespeare in relation to ecosystems, changing housing practices, and climate change.

English Department faculty

Book:

Writing the Forest in Early Modern England: A Sylvan Pastoral Nation. Duquesne University Press, 2009.

Articles:

“Plant People: Identity in Cymbeline,” in Shakespeare’s Botanical Imagination, ed. Susan Staub. Amsterdam University Press, 2023.

“Marvell’s “Upon Appleton House” and Tree-Felling: A Political Woodpecker,” in Ecological Approaches to Early Modern English Texts: A Field Guide to Reading and Teaching. Eds. Edward Geisweidt, Jennifer Munroe, and Lynne Bruckner. Ashgate Press, 2015. pp. 193-204.

"Ecocritical Milton," in Approaches to Teaching Milton's Paradise Lost, 2nd edition, ed. Peter Herman. New York: Modern Language Association, 2012.

"The 'purlieus of heaven': Milton's Eden as a Pastoral Forest," in Renaissance Ecology: Imagining Eden in Miltons England, ed. Ken Hiltner. Duquesne UP, 2008.

"Collegiality and the Department Mailbox: Subdivide and Conquer," Profession 2006. New York: Modern Language Association, 2006.

"Milton's Principles of Architecture," English Literary Renaissance 35:1 (Winter, 2005): 102-122.

"The 'ill-killd Deer:' Poaching and Social Order in The Merry Wives of Windsor," Texas Studies in Literature and Language 43.1 (Spring, 2001): 46-73.

“Poor ‘Tom’s a-cold’: Warmth, Comfort, and Housing Technology,” for the seminar session “Energy Transitions in Long Modernity,” Shakespeare Association of America, Portland, Oregon, April 11, 2024.

“Natural History and the Niche: Genre and Sites of Dwelling,” for the seminar session “Natural History Now,” Shakespeare Association of America, Minneapolis, Minnesota, March 30, 2023.

“Niche Construction, the Process of Dwelling, and Transforming the Human in Cymbeline,” for the seminar session “Gender and Science,” Shakespeare Association of America, Jacksonville, Florida, April 9, 2022.

“No Island for Old Men: Atwood’s Hag-Seed, Dwelling, and Prospero’s Non-Migration,” for the seminar session “Ecomigration: Shakespeare and the Contemporary Novel,” Shakespeare Association of America, Virtual Conference, April 2021.

“Staging the Cave: Dwelling in Nature,” for the seminar session “Ecomaterialism and Performance,” Shakespeare Association of America, Washington D.C., April 19, 2019.

“Plant People: Nature, Home, and Inter-Connected Identities,” for the seminar session “Object Lessons in Renaissance Personhood,” Shakespeare Association of America, Los Angeles, CA, March 30, 2018.

"Connecting the Arts and Humanities through Shakespeare: A Model for Multidisciplinary Approaches and Collaborations" session with Dr. Elizabeth Kenney from Salem State and Lori Taylor, Project Director for Actors' Shakespeare Project, for the conference "Arts & Humanities: Toward a Flourishing State," Association of American Colleges and Universities, Providence, RI, November 5, 2011.

"Primitive Architecture, Temporary Dwelling? Cells, Caves, and Environment in The Tempest and Cymbeline," for the seminar entitled "Green Scenes in Shakespeare," Shakespeare Association of America, Bellevue, WA, April 7-9, 2011.

"Transient Milton: Place, Home, and Movement in Milton's Life and Poetry," The Ninth International Milton Symposium, London, July 7-11, 2008.